Lost Citizen
by StarshadowNoir
Summary: A Tenno has been separated from the Origin System, and her friends and allies. With naught but limited supplies, a malfunctioning Cephalon, and her wits, she must adapt and survive in her new environment. Post Second Dream/War Within/Sacrifice. Minor/major spoilers for The War Within/The Second Dream. Crossposted from ArchiveOfOurOwn
1. Chapter 1

As far as she could tell, the mission was going well. It was a standard mobile defense run. Get in, defend the terminals, get out. The only significantly irritating part was the mission's location. The Void, a place where all logic and physics break down, and weaker minds will inevitably be swayed by the influence of the Orokin technology guarding these ancient relics of an age long past.

The Tenno, Danielle, was running solo on a mission, wielding her Limbo Prime. A few minutes later, the Tenno began moving quickly toward extraction. Despite having taken heavy losses, the Corrupted were well capable of sending large groups of mind-drone slave-soldiers to secure the tower again, and she would rather not deal with them.

As she entered her landing craft, a blast shook the Orokin tower, jarring the Tenno. Suddenly, it, and the Tenno's ship, began to shake. Moments later, a massive explosion rocked the ship, and several seconds later, a large unregulated Void gate appeared, dragging the Tenno through it.

"Operator?! What happened? Where are we? Have the Corrupted caused this-DISASTER-problem? My apologies, Operator. My systems seem to still be experiencing issues. I will attempt to repair the malfunctioning circuits at the first available opportunity."

Sighing, she replied, "I'm not sure, Xynos. The mission was executed perfectly, then things went south during extraction. We got tossed through some sort of Void gate. No idea where we are."

"Very well. I will scan for signs of life." Xynos spoke, in her robotic monotone common to most cephalons.

A minute later, Xynos' hologram flickered back into existence. "I detect four large strongholds near which the majority of the inhabitants reside. Further data is unable to be gathered from our current position."

"Perhaps we should land, and investigate." Xynos spoke, using the ship's data transmission console.

"Thank you, Xy. Set course for the nearest stronghold." the operator spoke.

A moment later, something odd began.

"Operator? What is happening? I feel odd." as she watched, a blue energy outline appeared, emerging from Xynos's main console, solidifying into a humanoid female shape, with neon pink hair and eyes, light brown skin, and a standard Tenno uniform, the Zariman suit, in grey, with black highlights. It took a step forward, and spoke.

"Greetings, Operator. I am Xynos."

Stunned, Danielle stood there for a minute processing what just happened. Coming to her senses, she said, "Ah, kubrow droppings!"


	2. Chapter 2

*at the landing site*

After activating the Scimitar's cloaking, a hidden perk of owning one of Baro Ki'teer's enhanced prisma models, the "alien" began walking through the forest.

"Stupid trees, and their stupid weak branches. What is this stuff? It's all sticky, and it won't come off." Danielle complained, after running into a tree, and breaking a few branches, which dripped their pink sap on her. "Smells nice, though. Much like the scents in Silvana's Grove. The color is somewhat strange, though. This place clearly has not suffered the meddling of the Grineer." she observed, looking at the trees, which bore leaves the color of blood. "We'll have to get cleaned up when we can. First, we need to figure out where we are."

Xynos spoke up then. "Operator, we are currently three miles west of the nearest settlement. I would recommend travelling there."

"Understood. That's a good idea. Let's move, preferably _before _this planet's native wildlife decides we're their next meal." the Tenno replied, looking in the direction of Vale, before setting off at a run towards the city.

After a half hour of light running, the Tenno and Cephalon reached the outskirts of Vale. Looking around at the people, Danielle realized that walking around as Limbo would raise all sorts of red flags, so she quickly hid behind a building, before using transference to exit her warframe, sending it back to her ship. Next was her Transference suit. The bulky metallic chestpiece, and similar greaves, were significantly unique, and would blatantly stand out. Shifting the outfit to a much less conspicuous version, with the Koppra hood, Vent Rat cuirass (jacket), Vent Rat greaves (pants), Kubrodon apparel (belt), and the Umbra headpiece, and a Zenoriu model mask one of her fellow Tenno had made, though the last bit hung by her waist for now. Now, the only somewhat obvious sign of her "alien" origin was some slight Void scarring around her left eye, made up of rough black marks, faintly glowing with a reddish-orange energy.

Speaking to herself, though Xynos always heard as well, due to Cephalons being linked to their Operators. "Okay. unknown territory, limited resources. First objective: Determine location. Best course of action, find a data archive of some sort."

First course of action decided, Danielle stepped back onto the street, walking through the city, looking at the shops and vendors as she walked. By the early evening, she came across a small bookstore by the name of Tukson's Book Trade. Opening the door to a ringing from a small bell positioned to alert the occupants of a new person, she approached the counter, as the owner, a dark-haired puma faunus, came out of the back.

"Welcome to Tukson's Book Trade. Home to every book under the sun." the man said.

"Every book, huh? Well, well, well. Lucky me. Guess I'm in the right place then. Where are your history books? Oh, and before I forget, your books on technology as well."

Tukson replied with a small smile, "History's down at the far end, on the wall to your left. 900s. Technology's the near end of the same wall. 600's."

"Thanks. I'll take a look. If I find what I'm looking for, I'll probably buy them."

"That's why they're here, miss. Though it's perfectly fine to just browse. Doesn't do any harm."

"Alright. I'll get to it then. Thanks again, Tukson. My name is Danielle."

Following the man's directions, she quickly located the sections she was looking for. First, history. Danielle approached the relevant shelves, picking books off at random, looking for one that had the greatest range of dates, and extensive information on them. Next was technology. If she was to assimilate and blend in, she would have to understand their technology.

After finding two books on what she was looking for, she decided to grab a few fictional stories for fun. Browsing the shelves, Danielle found several she thought were interesting, and grabbed them. On her way to the front, she saw a shelf with titles like "Ninjas of Love, Volumes 1-10" and several other unreadable titles. Picking up the first one, she quickly replaced it, face flaming briefly, as she looked around worried someone spotted her.

Finished with her search, Danielle headed up front with the five books she wanted. Once she got up there, Tukson scanned the books, and read off the total.

"That comes to 50 Lien. Will you need a bag?" He asked.

"I don't think-", Danielle paused, realizing that what she was planning to do with the books would be risking revealing herself as an alien. "Actually, yes, thanks. A bag would be nice."

"Okay. Here you go."

"Thank you, Tukson. I'll be back if I ever want more to read." Danielle reached into one of her pockets, hoping her credits would be accepted. Luckily, they were, and she walked out with a smile on her face, and valuable books in her hand.


	3. Chapter 3

Once out of sight of people, Danielle opened a hole to her personal pocket dimension, the Rift, and placed the bag of books in it, after removing the history book. Quickly closing the Riftgate, she turned and sat under a tree.

"Great. Now to find out where we are" Danielle thought to herself. She began reading, finding the text incredibly interesting. She was so engrossed in the reading, she hardly noticed the time passing as she read. When she finished, hours later, it was to a stiff back, and the sun just below the horizon.

As the Tenno stood, she felt something brush against her leg. Looking down, she saw it was a small dog, which the locals informally named "wolf corgi". Smiling, Danielle bent down, picking up the small dog, scratching behind its ears, to its happiness, which it showed with a couple short barks, before it licked her face. Laughing, Danielle tapped the pup's nose, and walked off toward Beacon, carrying the cute, fuzzy, little cuddleball that is the corgi with her.

"I think I'll call you Heimdall, little guy." Danielle's only answer was a short yip, and another attempt to lick her face.

When she reached the airship docks, she quickly paid for a ticket, and headed to the seating near the boarding terminal for her flight. Luckily, she didn't have to wait long, as the next airship was arriving in five minutes. After the brief wait, she boarded the airship, and took a seat.

Once the Bullhead docked, she made her way off the ship, and toward the Beacon Academy tower. Walking through the main Beacon avenue, Danielle encountered a second-year team, CFVY.

"Excuse me. Hello. I was just wondering where I could find the Headmaster's office, as I'm interested in enrolling here."

The big guy, with several pieces of large, green plate armor on his left arm, replied, "Ozpin's office is at the top of the tower. He is the one you would need to talk to."

Nodding in thanks, Danielle replied, "Alright. Thanks. See you around."

She gazed up at the tower, realizing how tall it looked from the ground. Danielle, now knowing where her goal was, retreated back to her ship, hidden on the edge of the Emerald Forest, somewhat close to the industrial district of Vale. Setting her new four-legged friend on the floor inside, she realized she still needed to get a collar and leash for the dog.

"Eh. another task for tomorrow. It's too late tonight." she thought to herself, rubbing between the dog's ears.

The next morning, Danielle woke at exactly seven. Getting up, she checked over her suit, making sure everything was in the right place, and presentable, before exiting the ship.

"Right. First stop, clothes store. As nice as this stuff is, I'll be extremely obvious if I go back there like this. Definitely need an alternate set of clothes."

Luckily, she was able to find such a store rather quickly, entered, and began browsing the racks of clothes, before choosing a tight fitting black vest, tights, boots, a silver chain around her torso, silver forearm cuffs, a black cloak, and a black belt with individual carriers for Dust crystals, and a digital watch. After trying everything on to ensure it all fit, Danielle paid, and hurried back to her ship to put it on.

Satisfied with her outfit, she replaced the Umbra headpiece, and reattached the Zenoriu mask to the strap around her neck. Next, she grabbed her favorite sidearm, the Euphona Prime, and attached it to the holster on her right hip. Kneeling to give Heimdall a few headpats, she made her way out of the Scimitar, and into Vale. Quickly making her way to the Bullhead docks, paying 20 Lien for a ticket to Beacon, and taking a seat. The airship soon arrived, and she was on her way to the prestigious Academy. Once she arrived, she followed the directions she received the day before, heading straight to the central tower where the Headmaster's office was located. Stepping into the tower, Danielle located the elevator, and entered, pressing the button for the top floor, assuming that's where the Headmaster's office was located. Fortunately, her guess was correct, and even better, the man she was looking for was inside.

"Hello." Ozpin said, greeting the Tenno. "How can I help you?"

"I would like to enroll at your academy. How do I do that?"

"Well, most students go through a process of submitting transcripts from previous schools they attended, and then are considered based on their marks at those previous academies. However, for those who do not have a formal academic education, there is a practical entrance exam, in which prospective students are transported into the Emerald Forest for a live fire exercise and assessment."

"It will have to be the second, as I've never attended one of these academies you mention."

"Very well. I will, however, need some basic information to create your student profile. Name, age, and semblance, to start with."

"Danielle Robin. 19. My semblance is Riftwalker. I can create and shape Rift energy. This allows me to open pockets of Rift at will, use it as a secondary storage area, and walk through it whenever I want."

"Thank you. If you will meet Miss Goodwitch by the cliffs, we will begin your practical exam."

"Understood, Headmaster. I'll make my way there now."

Five minutes later, having retrieved her weapons from the ship, Danielle returned to the Beacon cliffs, ready to begin.


End file.
